


Lyn

by BBHummer



Category: Look and Read, Original Work, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Being gay is not uncommon in the Underground apparently, F/F, F/M, Lots of Angst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Major Character(s), Major Original Character(s), Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Mythology, Original Universe, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, but lots of gay, everyone is pretty, i hope no one reads these tags, idk what I’m doing but plz enjoy reading this., lots of gay, lots to trama, mutations, people have bad pasts, straight is there too, tears in chapter 4, this will be a train wreck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2020-12-23 16:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21084443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBHummer/pseuds/BBHummer
Summary: My name is Rin and I am a member of the Domes. The Domes were created by a professor named Quill after WW3 wrecked havoc across the world. The rules in the Dome are quite simple, ranging from 1-777, for example rule 24: “one must not show love or affection towards another citizen unless declared Soulmates”. Well what happens with a few more rules than rule 24 are broken and I find myself thrusted into a new world with a few people from my unknown past. Here’s the story of how I met my soulmate, my new family, and destroyed a system that has ruled the world since the end of the past.





	1. Introduction

This is the story about how I somehow met the love of my life, how we almost destroyed the world, and how we realized an important fact about our lives and relationship. The usual romantic story am I right? As I write this in my Q.D.P.P-issued journal, I seriously hope no one reads this, I am beginning to have serious doubts in writing this down. But, I should probably tell you the entire story from the beginning

The dome is sunny as artificial lights bear down onto the city of Zambiah or as the locals call “the dome”. Zambiah is a colony that the citizen of earth created on deserted land in Egypt. Back about a hundred years ago the earth was in the middle of the Third World War. The United States was the leading country in the world at the time and, even though the war was between Russia and Europe, they were fighting while using up almost 45% of the earth's natural resources to try and keep up with their title of a world power. The Third World War was absolutely devastating on the earth and its resources. Japan was teaming up with Russia, thus using its many factories to produce weapons and creating even more air production than it already was, while the entire part of South America was with Europe, also destroying rainforests to produce weapons and build bases for soldiers. All in all the world was slowly being drained of its resources and with the effects that it brought onto the world the weather was acting more destructive than usual. Acid rain from the plants in Japan brought terror onto the world and with the lack of trees from the rainforests in South America, there was no way to combat the rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. It took the world fifteen years into their war to realize their impact on the environment and notice the effects it had on the planet.

As populations in countries dwindled, Europe and Russia decided to create the Progression Treaty which stopped the war and forced all countries to work together to fix the destruction they caused. The countries brought in their best scientists to try and figure out a way to undo their wrongdoings and they couldn’t come up with anything as the world crumbled around them. 

That was until Professor Quill Friday came forward with the Q.D.P.P or the Quill Dome Protection Project. His project consisted in the entire world going into 17 domes, all separated by ages, to thrive without the threats of the outside world. The governments of the world countries agreed to this project, and everyone decided that since the world mostly speaks English, it would be the national language of the Q.D.P.P. The world instantly started pulling together the last of the few resources they had and build the dome in a short five years.

By the time the domes were built the air was toxic, the natural flowing rivers around the world were dry, and most of the wildlife were close to extinction. Now a days hundreds of years later citizens in all domes learn about the rules of the Q.D.P.P and why no one must ever leave the domes.

That’s the introduction, now let me tell you the story of me, Rin Coetta, my sister, my best friend, and my soulmate.


	2. A Nightmare and A Broken Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Rin.  
The citizens get a weird to-do list.  
Pia spills an important secret. 
> 
> See notes at the bottom of page to see what songs I was listening to as I wrote this chapter!

I am running from something. I don’t know what yet, but my external fight or flight instincts are running wild. The only sound I hear is my pounding heartbeat and my feet slapping the floor, which sounds like its made of glass. I am running, and running, and running for what feels like hours when suddenly my legs give out. I fall onto my hands and knees and cry out as pain spreads through my hands and legs. I don’t know what is going on. Who am I? Where am I? Why am I so absolutely terrified? I hear a sound come from behind me. It sounded like a small breath being released after being held for a while, like when I held my breath underwater during competitions with my best friend Pia. As I turn to see what the noise came from, I am suddenly thrown backwards and I land on the floor flat on my back. I swallow a scream as the pain in my hands and legs transfers to my back and throbbing head. The breath gets closer and closer to me as I try to get up. My body is frozen in fear as I look up to see two eyes, one brown and one blue, right in front of my face. I scream and close my eyes while trying to hit the eyes away as an overwhelming sense of protection and joy flood my brain. It’s comforting yet terrifying because I have never felt anything like it before.

“Rin,” someone pushes against my back “Rin wake up!”

I shoot up in my bed with a start. I must have been dreaming again. 

“Pia,” I groan and rub my tired eyes, “What time is it?”

I open my eyes and see Pia smiling brightly before me. Pia is my best friend and has been my assigned roommate since we were children in dome one. Even though she is 4’ 5” and I am 5’ 8” she seems more mature than I am at times. Her dark green eyes are sparkling, which is unusual because usually I am the one waking her up, and she laughs. 

“It’s moving day idiot,” she punches my shoulder lightly and I glare at her, “I can’t believe you forgot.”

She looks up and then looks back at me and winks.

“On second thought, you totally would forget,” she continues and laughs at me and I growl at her.

“Ha ha very funny Pia,” I roll my eyes and I turn away to try and hide my smile.

I can’t let her figure out that I was having a nightmare or she would never let me live it down, or worse, worry about me nonstop like the mother hen she is. Last time I told her I had a nightmare, she stood at the foot of my bed all night for a week to “fight any monsters terrorizing me”. I appreciated the gesture but she needed sleep as well and almost failed her classes due to exhaustion. I slowly move my feet to the edge of my bed, the top bunk of the bunkbed me and Pia have shared since we were born, and slowly leap off. I feel Pia glaring at me as I got behind the changing barrier to put my clothes on for the day.

“Why are you mad now,” I tease, “It’s moving day right?”

I hear her throw her hands up and I picture her rolling her eyes in annoyance as I put my shirt on and start on my pants.

“Yes, it is moving day,” she starts, “but you really need to use the ladder to the floor when you get out of bed, it can be dangerous just jumping down.” 

I smile and finish putting my shoes on and step out from behind the barrier. I notice that Pia changed into her usual school clothes as well. The Q.D.P.P issues us to wear out teaching clothes every day unless there is a special event, and we then wear out own casual clothes we chose during orientation to dome three. 

The domes go from dome one to dome seventeen, and each dome holds citizens in increments of five years. Since me and Pia are the oldest in dome three, nineteen years old, we are moving up today into dome four. Once a citizen gets into dome four, they choose a job to serve the Q.D.P.P and gradually get assigned a significant other by taking the S.O.T.T or Significant Other Togetherness Test, but citizens take the test when they turn twenty-four in dome four, not when they first arrive. 

I grab my satchel and start to fill it up with my usual gear: a pencil, my cellular device, the pocketknife that was given to my as a baby from my unknown birth mother and father, and my identification card. 

“You have everything?” Pia asks me and holds the door to our apartment open for me.

“Yeah,” I reply and we walk outside our apartment. 

Me and Pia walk down the apartment hallway where the bedrooms are located for two citizens to share. The hallway is empty, probably because the other pairs of roommates are already either downstairs or still getting prepared for today. Pia is uncharacteristically quiet as we make our way towards the staircase. I turn to look at her and see her face locked in a tight frown, completely opposite of how she looked when I woke up. I see her hands curl around the strap to her backpack and then turn back to look at where I am walking.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

I hear her release a breath beside me and then she reaches and grabs onto my hand, stopping us from walking. I pull her around a pillar that hides us from the always watching cameras in the hallway. 

I turn to face her and feel my eyes widen as I see her tear filled eyes. I have never seen Pia cry or even remotely look so distressed before now. I feel the overwhelming feeling of despair radiating off of her, but I don’t know what caused it. Maybe she is worried about moving day today. I wait for her to say something but she just stares at me with her pitiful looking eyes. I turn away, unable to look at her in her state of sadness, and I squeeze her hand in an effort to comfort her. I hear her release a tiny sob, then move forward and rests her head on my shoulder. In feel her tears slowly make my shoulder damp, but I don’t mind. I move my arms, slowly pulling her into a loose hug, rule 24 of the Q.D.P.P states that citizens can not date or show any public displays of affection towards another citizen, but my best friends emotions are more important than a rule. We stood there hugging for a few minutes until she starts to calm down. She slowly pulls away and looks down at my shirt. 

“Thank you,” she quietly mutters.

I smile down at her and mess with her hair like an older brother would to a younger sibling. 

“No problem,” I say, “Are you ready to continue?”

She nods and we separate and then turn out from behind the pillar. We continue walking in silence. I know she will tell me whats bothering her when she is ready. 

Me and Pia walk down the three flights of stairs down to the entryway of the building. As we walk towards the doors to exit the building we see other roommates walk together outside toward the Garden of Eden for morning prayer.

Just like how the domes adopted english as their national language, the religion Quell chose was Chrisian due to his own personal beliefs. 

We walk out of the building and down the cobble pathway towards the Garden. The artificial sun is shining brightly today due to the special occasion of moving day, and it takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust. All of the shrubs lining the path are perfectly manicured, thanks to the gardening class in this dome, and are starting to bloom summer flowers. A few bees fly into some of the flowers to continue the reproduction of pollination. 

While many animals were going extinct before the domes, the countries back then came together and salvaged all types of animals they could before closing the domes. 

Special officers in the Q.D.P.P armed forces have access to the basements of the domes which stores all the different species and breeds them to fit the demand of the citizens. Roommates talk as they take their seats in the outskirts of the Garden of Eden, and get ready for morning prayer and announcements. Me and Pia take our assigned seats next to our neighbor roommates Ally Fola and Jiu Losui.

Ally and Jiu are best friends as well, and we all have been a troublesome group ever since dome two. Ally and Jiu talk among themselves as me and Pia watch the clock strike eight o’clock, prayer time. Everyone looks up as a drone flies down from the sky, the Q.D.P.P officers watch us through cameras and use drones or robots to interact with us. This is because they don’t want to ruin the age restrictions that the domes were designed to hold. The drone flies down to the middle of the circle and flashes a green light to grab everyone's attention. 

“Please rise for prayer,” says the automated drone voice, “and kneel in the prayer position.” 

Everyone stands then kneels onto their knees with their hands clasped together resting on their thighs and everyone raises their heads with their eyes closed towards the sky. 

“My dear lord,” everyone says robotically and void of emotion, “please bless the domes and help us find our duty as servants in our short and worthless lives. Amen.” 

The robot watches as everyone stands up and then we wait for instructions of today's event. I feel the tension in the air as the drone flies up and then lowers a large projector so we can read the announcements. I hear Pia gasp and almost everyone's eyes widen with surprise about the contents of the announcement. 

To Do:  
1- Clean out room and pack all belongings  
2- Put belongings in the travel shoot  
3- Prepare to take the S.O.T.T at arrival to dome four

I feel the confusion in the air as I re-read the third assignment. This has to be a mistake. We were only nineteen, we aren’t old enough to take the S.O.T.T yet! The drone flashes a red light, signifying that the morning prayer session was over and that we could all move to start the list. I turn and look over at Pia. Her green eyes are dull and emotionless. I can tell that she is confused but slowly accepting our fate with the S.O.T.T’s.

I reach over to comfort her and touch her hand, but she pulls away from me before I can even make contact. She turns away from me then stands and starts to walk to our room. I watch as she walks away from me then turn to see Ally and Jiu’s reactions to the assignment. Both of them are whispering to one another with their heads just far away enough to not be counted as public affection. I can see the fear in both of their eyes as they discuss what they will do during their S.O.T.T’s. Ally and Jiu have been crushing on one another for years since they became roommates, and I know that the S.O.T.T’s will destroy them if they aren’t paired together. I send a silent prayer that they will end up happily together, then turn and walk after Pia to our room.   
The walk to our room is uneventful without the constant chattering of Pia next to me and I try to figure out what is wrong with her. Is she mad at me or something? Is she worried about the S.O.T.T’s? That couldn’t be it because ever since we found out about it in dome one we made a pact to not fall in love with any other citizen, including ourselves, until our S.O.T.T. As roommates walk to their rooms, I gradually start to pick up my pace so I can get an answer from Pia myself in the safety of our room. 

The hallway is chaotic as citizens move their belongings and talk to their roommates and neighbors about the third item on the to do list. I slowly made my way to our room and use my identification card to open the door. 

When I walk in I don’t see Pia anywhere. I check our small kitchen, her bed, the bathroom, and our tiny library space and she is nowhere to be found. In a last attempt I check our emotion room. Since rule 24 states that citizens can’t show public affection, that includes emotions, we have a room specifically for a place to express our emotions freely.

I put my ear to the door, straining to try and hear anything. Pia is quietly crying in the room, and the lock on the door only allows one citizen to be in the emotion room at one time. I sit down at the entryway of the door with my back pressed against it. It makes me feel pain in my chest hearing her cry, and it’s worse because I can’t help her at all.

I feel a few lone tear slide down my cheeks, but I don’t wipe them away. They are only a few compared to the countless that Pia is spilling behind me in her sorrows.

I sit and wait for a few minutes till I hear her stand up. I hurry away from the door and start to pack my moving bag in an attempt to act inconspicuous. The door slides open and Pia is standing there smiling with her eyes bright. Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes, but I return with a small smile to try and cheer her up. She moves robotically around the room and packs her stuff in her bag. I want to reach out and comfort her, but I get the feeling that it isn’t the right thing to do right now .

“How are you doing?” I ask quietly, in attempts to reach out and show I care.

Pia glances at me but then turns and continues to pack her bag.

“I’ve been better Rin,” she quietly whispers, her voice breaking.

I turn and fully face her and I see the exact moment she breaks. Tears start streaming down her face, which is scrunched up pain. 

“Rin,” she sobs, “I don’t want to leave you and get a significant other.”

I slowly make my way over to her, I want to comfort her but I don’t know how.

“And Rin,” she continues, “I broke our promise as dome two citizens.”

I stop. Wait what is she talking about?

“I am in love with you Rin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired song(s):  
Only Happy When It Rains-Garbage  
Please Don't Go-Joel Adams  
Good Old Days-Macklemore and Kesha


	3. Rock Bottom Meets the S.O.T.T's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Pia chat it out.  
Rin has a heart to heart with Ally.  
Rin takes the S.O.T.T's with an unexpected turn of events. 
> 
> See notes at bottom for songs I was listening to while writing this chapter!

I stare at Pia for a minute. What did she just say? 

“Wait wait wait,” I stutter flinging my arms around in disbelief and shake my head, “you LOVE me?” 

I turn away from Pia. I don’t even know what to think. In a few hours we will be split apart and will then move in with our significant others. Why would she tell me now? What does she think will be accomplished by telling me her feelings? I continue to pack my bag. What do I do? How do I respond? Do I have the same feelings? I can’t. I’ve never thought of her differently. But what do I do? What do I do? I close my eyes in frustration and reach my hands up and tug at my hair. 

“Rin,” I hear Pia say behind me.

I stop and pause, waiting for her to continue. Her voice is quiet, barely a whisper. I hear the shaky ness in her voice without even seeing her face and I know she is crying again. 

“It is okay,” She whispers.

I know she is letting me know that I don’t have to return her feelings or even respond to her confession, but it doesn’t feel right to end our relationship on a bad note. I turn around and face her. Her usually bright green eyes are turning musky with her tears, and her face is red with what I can assume as embarrassment or frustration. 

When she meets my eyes she immediately turns away from met, crossing her arms over her chest with her back to me. I sigh. I hate seeing Pia look so sad and distraught. I slowly walk up to her back and place a hand on her shoulder. She tenses under my touch, which is understandable, but she doesn’t turn around or acknowledge my movement. I sigh again and squeeze her shoulder. 

“I am so sorry Pia,” I whisper, “But I can’t return your feelings because you are my best friend and I don’t want to ruin that.”

I feel Pia release her tense shoulders and sniffle. She turns around to face me and I remove my hand from her shoulder. She forces a small smile but I can see her pain in her eyes.

“That is okay Rin,” She murmers, “I didn’t expect anything different and I am glad you are my best friend too.”

With that she pulls away from me and turn to her bed. I watch her finish packing her bag but I can still feel sadness emitting from her movements. She finishes packing and shoulders her bag, turning back to face me one last time. She slowly give me a small, sad smile and raises her hand in a tiny wave.

“Just to let you know,” she starts, “I don’t want somebody like you as a significant other,” she pauses and closes her eyes, “I only want you.”

With those few words she opens her eyes and walks out the door, leaving me feeling both confused and distraught at how our relationship ended.

I turn back to my bed and continue to pack with my mind reeling. I don’t know what to do now. I just lost my one and only friend, my best friend for that matter, and now I am going to go take a test to find my significant lover? This is crazy. It doesn’t feel right. I close my eyes and groan. I cover my eyes with my hands and lean back to lay on my bed. 

All I want to do now is sleep for a hundred years and not face any of my fears or confusing situations. But I can’t do that, I need to get up. That is what Pia would tell me. I open my eyes and sit up, my eyes burning with a new determination. If Pia can face her fears then so can I. I stand up and face the door. I will live my life with Pia by my side as my best friend no matter who my significant other is. Because if she can confess, the least I can do is still be with her through her struggles.  
I walk out the door and put my bag of belongings into the moving chute. I will be strong and stay by Pia as her best friend no matter what. I walk towards the entrance to the building and walk to the Garden of Eden for the ceremony.  
///  
I arrive at the S.O.T.T room and immediately scan my eyes for Pia. The room is packed with people as citizens make their way through the aisles to get to desks neatly organized around the room. I look around at the faces I’ve known my whole life, but I can’t remember anyone’s names other than Pia, Ally, and Jiu. I can’t find Pia, but I do see Ally at a desk with a seat beside her.

I start to walk through the crowds of people gathering in the aisles. I shove my way through a pair of roommates talking and finally get to the desk by Ally. When I see her face up close it is easy to see the tear streaks running down her face, which I presume are results from her separation from Jiu, and worry lines etching their way around her eyes and forehead.

I don’t know what to say so I just sit down next to her and reach over to rub her hand. It was a movement to comfort her but instead she jerks away from me in surprise and glares at me. Once she recognizes me, she lowers her guard and shoots me an apologetic look with a tiny smile. 

“Ah sorry Rin,” She rub the back of her head sheepishly, “I didn’t mean to act rudely, you just startled me.” 

I chuckle and return her smile.

“It’s okay Ally,” I grin, “I should have thought before I acted.” 

She quietly laughs and faces forward. As seconds pass I see her happy face crumble into one filled with dread. Her leg starts to shake uncontrollably and her mouth shoots downwards into a tight frown. Her hands also start to slightly shake and I reach over and grab her hands. She turns to face me and I can see tears forming in her eyes. 

“Ally,” I start, “It will be okay, you will see him again if I have anything to say about it.”

A single tear falls down her cheek and she smiles a genuine small smile. 

“Thank you Rin.”

I return her smile as a robot comes to our desks to give us an electronic computer opened on a tab to a multiple choice test. I turn over and look at Ally as she starts to click on answers to the first few questions. I guess me and Ally shouldn’t talk anymore since we have the test. I turn back to my computer and look at question one.

What is your favorite color?  
Red  
Blue  
Green  
Yellow  
None

I scoff. These questions are easy. I click blue because it reminds me of the sky, the ocean, and the color of my knife handle that me parents gave me. I subconsciously bring my hand to the knife and smile at the thought of my parents. The next few questions follow a similar pattern like “What is your favorite food?” I type in Steak, and click next “What is your favorite space in all of the domes you’ve been in so far?” My living space with my roommate, Pia. The questions follow that pattern until I get to question 25. “Do you love your roommate as more than a friend?”. I pause. I move my mouse to “no” but then I see a third option that reads “I don’t know what love is.” Do I know what love is? I’ve never felt “love” before. I don’t even know the real definition of love. I’ve never met my parents and I have no other friends other than Pia, Ally, and Jiu. 

I glance over at Ally and see that her face is pulled in a focused grimace. She is probably on the same question I am. Her hand keeps moving between two options and I see the internal struggle she is facing. I watch as she closes her eyes for a few seconds then opens them with determination as she picks an answer. I watch as her face shifts from worried to relaxed in seconds as she reads the next question and I turn back to my own complicated question. 

Do I love Pia? I rejected her confession but do I really understand my true feelings? I close my eyes. I see flashes of our time in the past domes: where we met, our time at the beach, messing around in class, crying and comforting one another together as we think about our past, and Pia’s face as she left. I don’t ever want to see Pia look that sad ever again. I move my mouse over “I don’t know what love is” and click. If I ever make Pia look like that again, I don’t want to risk clicking a definite answer. 

Suddenly my screen turns bright red. I look around in confusion as I see everyone else continue their tests without issue. I look down at my screen again and see the words “Please see robot” flashing across the screen. I look up and watch as a robot comes flying towards me down the aisle. I sit, wide eyed, as it stops in front of me and asks for my Identification Card. I pull it out and let the robot scan it. Once the robot scans my card it pauses then asks me to follow it.

I glance at Ally who has been watching the exchange and she shrugs her shoulders. I guess I will follow it? I mean what is the worst that can happen right?  
Oh was I ever so wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired song(s):  
Only Want You- Rita Ora  
Solider- James TW


	4. The statue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin finds a statue and gets kidnapped. 
> 
> This chapter is a shorter one, but the next one will be really long.

I stand up and follow the robot. I watch as other people continue taking their test. No one looks up at me as I cautiously walk down the aisle. The robot turns and walks out of the door to the hallway then continues down.   
The lights flicker and the hallway is unusually quiet due to the citizens all taking the test in their assigned rooms. I pass classrooms and classrooms filled with students. I glance into one as I pass by and see Pia taking her test.

I stop and stare as she continues her test. She looks nervous and confused as she continues clicking her answers. I wonder if a robot will take her away as well.  
I turn forward and watch as the robot turns left down another hallway. I run to catch up to it, but as I round the corner I am surprised to see the robot stopped and facing back at me. The robot does nothing for a few seconds as I stare at it, greatly confused. The robot suddenly asks for my Identification Card and I blink at it in shock.

I reach into the pocket of my pants and hand it my card again. It scans it and I wait as it processes the information. Suddenly, and I am not afraid to say I leapt back a few inches, it lets out a loud ringing noise and turns to face the wall. I glance between the robot and the wall as it seems to be contemplating something. I walk behind the robot to see if it is looking at anything on the wall, but there is nothing there. Then, the robot lifts one of its metal hands and presses an invisible button on the wall.

The walls split apart and open to a staircase leading down into darkness. I look around to see if anyone else is seeing this shocking discovery, yet everyone is in their classrooms taking the test. I turn back to look down the staircase as the robot starts to fly forward downward but then turns back and faces me.

“Please follow me Rin,” It says then turns and continues down the staircase. 

I glance back down the hallway towards Pia’s classroom, and gulp. What do I do? Do I follow it? I close my eyes and think about what could be waiting for me down there. My curiosity if peaked and I open my eyes and slowly follow the robot down the candle lit staircase.   
///  
When we reach the bottom of the staircase I am blinded as the robot opens another door. I squint through my fingers and am instantly shocked. Sitting in front of me is a beautiful statue of a girl, about my age, standing on a rock and reaching a hand towards the sky with her face filled with wonder. I glance at the robot as it starts to move towards the statue and I stand still, still in awe of the statue. The robot turns back and faces me then motions its hand forward, telling me to follow it. I slowly move my feet, barely shuffling behind it, and walk to stand in front of the beautiful girl. The robot moves to float at my left side, but I ignore it as I look at the statue.

“Touch it,” commands the robot.

I don’t need to be told twice. I reach my hand up and just barely graze the girls hand when I am blasted backwards by an unseen force. I bang my head against the wall and fall into my knees. Ow, that hurt. I rub my head and look up while griminancing as my throbbing head overtakes my senses. My vision goes blurry but I can barely make out a boy my age grabbing the hand of a girl then running over to me. I can’t make out any features of their face, but I tell that the boys hair is ombre black into blue and the girl’s hair is blonde. 

The walls around me shake and I hear alarms barely blaring in the background. The boy shakes a hand in front of me while shouting something. I can’t understand him and I turn to face the girl and my mind is imetitly overtaken by how worried her face is. I try to smile in an attempt to comfort her when my mind goes blank and I see black.   
///  
I wake with a start. I instantly bang my head against a roof of some sort and I grab my head and pull it, throbbing, downwards in my chest. Why do I keep banging my head? I let out a tiny groan as I take in my surroundings. I am riding in some sort of vehicle. The air feels dry and my head arms have a burning feeling to them. I start to rub my arms but it stings when I try so I put them down at my side. There is some sort of boxes surrounding me covered with tarps. I attempt to move my legs and  
sit up, but they are numb due to not moving them for a while. I hear some sort of sound softly playing around me. It sounds like a robot banging a pan against another during cooking class. Once my legs get feeling back into them I shuffle my way forward out from behind the boxes and tarps. We are in some kind of dry land with no water and plants. The ground is red and the moving vehicle is making red dust fly all around us through the open walls of the car. There is a boy, the one I saw before I blacked out, driving us somewhere with the girl sitting next to him. I close my eyes as my brain starts filling up with questions. Who are these people? Where are we going? Where are we? Instead of asking any of these questions, my brain thinks it’s smart to just randomly let out one word.

“Dang.”

The car suddenly jerks left and I cry out as I scramble to grab something to hold on to. The driver guy swears and shifts the car back to where it was going. The girl looks back at me and glares with anger.

“You could have killed us Rin!” 

I blink and look at her confused. How does she know my name? The boy and girl start arguing about if they are going 100 degrees north, whatever that is, while I still try to comprehend who this girl is.

“Who are you and how do you know my name?” I ask in confusion. 

The girl laughs and the boy looks amused. The girl turns back to face me and immediately stops laughing when she sees that I am being serious. The boy and girl share a glance and the boy nods, like he is giving her permission to do something. The girl turns back to me and smiles.

“I am your sister Rin,” she says, “my name is Lyre.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired song(s):  
Not the Same Person- Acid Ghost  
American Idiot- Green Day


	5. The Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the family.  
Spanish.  
Sadness.  
I hated writing the ending to this chapter.

I am so confused. So Lyre is my sister? I try to wrap my brain around this new discovery as the boy continues to drive. The ground kicks up dust that flies into the car and the boy swears again while wiping the glass shield in the front of the car. Lyre doesn’t say anything else and she turns around and faces forward. I stare at the back of her head while I try and understand what she means by soulmate. The only thing that pops into my head is Pia when the definition of soulmate comes to mind. 

“What is a sister?”

I realize too late that I’ve spoken aloud as the words leap out of my mouth. The boy smiles but continues to drive without speaking and Lyre looks back at me with her soft eyes. I realize that her eyes are a deep violet color and I get lost in her irises as she starts to speak. I don’t hear a word she says as I stare at her eyes. She stops talking and then waits for me to reply. I come back to life as I realize that I didn’t hear a word she said. 

“Could you repeat all of that,” I ask sheepishly, “I didn’t hear a word you said.” 

Lyre smiles and the boy, whose name is still unknown, laughs loudly. I frown and wait for her to repeat herself.

“A sister or brother is a sort of best friend who you were born from the same mom,” she starts, “a sister or brother is meant to be in your life that completes you and helps you make decisions.” 

I blink. That was not the definition the dome told me.

“I was never told anything about having a sister.”

Lyre’s eyes go wide and the boy abruptly stops the vehicle. The boy turns around and glares at me while Lyse just stays quiet with her eyes humongous in shock. 

“They aren’t letting siblings know about each other?!” The boy growls and I see his jaw clench. 

I nod and look between them. The boy looks outraged while Lyre just looks deeply concerned and disgusted. Lyre looks at the boy and they seem to communicate with one another without speaking. The boy nods and then turns back to face the front and continue driving. Lyre looks back at me and smiles softly.

“Sorry for freaking out,” she murmurs, “in the Underground, people live with their families until they find their soulmate or someone they truly love. We have the freedom to be whoever and love whomever. I haven’t been back in a few months, so I am excited to see how much they have changed” 

I try to grasp my mind around what she is telling me. That sounds chaotic and unorganized. How does she know all of this after being stuck in a statue for who knows how long? The boy suddenly starts to slow down and I look past Lyre to see where we are going. We are coming up to a jutting rock like formation in the seeing deserted desert.

Its red sand rises up in cliffs and we drive towards a hole at the bottom entry of the formation. The vehicle slows to a steady pace as we near the hole. As we get closer I see four men guarding the entrance. They are dressed like the boy with piercings and they are all wearing different colored clothing. They are all dressed completely unorganized and unofficial looking. The boy stops the car by one of the guards and turns to face him. 

“The dome shall fall, let the revolution rise,” The boy states.

The guard nods to his companions and they step aside to let us through. What does he mean the dome will fall? And what revolution? All the questions are thrown out of my mind as we enter the cave like structure.   
The inside of the formation is stupendously more vast on the inside than the outside. There are thin roads crisscrossing in the air around us where people and viehels travel. The top of the dome is open to allow sunlight to come in, the walls of the dome have more caves splitting off from the main cavern, and there are so many people do tons of different tasks. Some people are teaching kids, some are training with weapons, some are selling items in shops, and some are down at the bottom of the cave. I look down to watch the men at the bottom. They look like they are hunting for something, maybe food, and I see a couple women in the mix hunting just as well as all the men are.   
My breath is stolen from me as all the new sights and sounds fill my soul to its max. Lyre looks back at me and chuckles at me. My face probably looks hilarious to someone who is able to even catch a glimpse of this beautiful sight every day. I feel a slight embarrassed blush creep to my face and I try to hide my face from her by turning the other way. But it doesn’t help because I immediately see children laughing and playing with some drawing tools on the ground, and I feel my mouth betray me and lock in the biggest smile on my face. As I look closely around the underground I start to notice some flowers lining the roads. They are a soft blue color with three petals on the top of a long, thorny stem. Lyre follows my train of sight and then turns back to me.

“Those flowers are called frostbite,” she explains, “they keep the cavern cool during the day and lit at night. Since the desert is hot with the sun beating down on us at all times.” 

I nod and continue looking at the people working and doing different tasks as the boy drives us to a smaller and branched off cavern. Darkness surrounds us and our only light source are the glowing frostbite flowers.   
The boy seems to speed up because the lights and colors blur around us as we race through the cavern. It’s magical. The boy starts to slow and then we are suddenly basked in light. We have entered another small open roofed cave. The boy makes the vehicle stop and he gets out. All of a sudden there are about twenty people crowding the vehicle. They are all cheering and shouting as they race towards the boy who was driving. There are a few smaller people leaping on top of him and he let out a shout of surprise.   
I vault out of the car and move in front of the boy, trying to shield him from the small beings. I can’t let these small people hurt my only answer to all my questions. I let out a growl and unsheathe my knife and place it in front of me. The small beings eyes go wide and they scurry away towards what seems to be their mothers. I automatically sense the tension in the room and I wait for someone to make a move towards me to attack.   
I feel a hand on my shoulder and shift my feet around to attack. I stop midair as I see the boy behind me. I freeze and lower my knife. His eyes are filled with concern and I see Lyre get out of the car and start to slowly walk towards us. 

“Why are you protecting me from my family?” The boy asks confused with a hint of aggravation to his tone.

His family?

“What is a family?” I ask, I have never heard the word before in the domes unless there were a pair of breeders who had a child.

The boy’s face shifts from anger and confusion to sadness in seconds. He takes my hand and gives it a tiny squeeze. I look at both Lyre’s and the boy’s eyes and tilt my head to the side. I don’t understand what is the big problem of not knowing the word “family”. I pull my hand away from Kyle and wait or a response to my question. Lyre comes to my other side and tries to take my knife away, but I push her hand away and resheathe my knife myself. The boy leads me towards the huddling group of people and a few of them flinch as we get closer. We stop a few feet away and the boy releases my hand and starts gesturing towards a few of them.

“This is my mother, Ash, my father, Kax, and my siblings, Luna, Emma, and Hugo,” The people each raise their hand and wave when their names are called and the boy continues to his cousins, whatever those are, and I lose track of who is who, “they are my family.” 

I look at them in awe. I never knew a family could be that big! A few of them shoot me a shaky smile, I instantly feel bad for bringing my knife out at them.

“I am sorry for being so defensive,” I say apologetically while looking at the ground, “I have never had a family before and I didn’t know if you were attacking us.” 

A few of the family members gasp and I look up to be met with twenty eyes filled with sadness and empathy. One of the little girls, Emma I think, slowly walks up to me and wraps her tiny arms around my waist. 

“You can be apart of our family mister,” she murmurs into my chest, “we are called the Almerez family.”

I feel my face soften and I sense the tears welling in my eyes. That’s the first time someone has ever welcomed me into anything. I wrap my arms around her and lower myself onto my knees to engulf her in my arms. We stay like this for a few seconds before she pats my back in a signal to release her. I slowly let her go and she steps back a few steps then stands there smiling at me. I see her eyebrows furrow and then she steps closer to me. She reaches her hand up and touches my face.

“Don’t cry Rin,” she whispers, “families protect each other so we don’t feel tears or sadness.” 

I give her a weak smile and shake my head slowly.

“These aren’t tears of sadness Emma,” I murmur, “they are tears of joy.”

Emma smiles at me, the retracts her hand from my face. She turns and walks over to, what I guess is her mother, and motions for her to lean downwards. She slowly leans down and Emma whispers something in her ear while cupping her hand over her mouth. She glances at me in the corner of her eyes and I see her eyes crinkle like she is smiling. Her mother whispers something back to Emma and she nods with a humongous bright smile covering her face. Emma bounces over to me and then looks back at her mother. Her mother nods again and then Emma turns back to face me. 

“Tú son mi hermano ahora,” she states with a shining smile.

I don’t understand the words she is saying, so I am guessing they are in a different language. I give the boy a confused look and he just winks at me. The boy walks over to me and leans down to Emma’s eye level. 

“Él no comprender tύ Emma,” He says, “Él no habla Española.”

“Por qué no?” 

“Él es muy nuevo aquí, Él será comprender más tarde.”

“Si.” 

After their transaction of words, the boy stands up and turns to face me. 

“She is speaking Spanish,” he explains, “an ancient almost extinct dialect only a few speak, like my family.” 

He motions to his family and they all collectively smile. The mother starts making her way over to use and stops next to Emma. 

“Our family comes from Spanish heritage,” she further explains, “we all learned Spanish from the past generations in our family.” 

I have never heard of there being more than one language before, it’s hard to even fathom how much activity has been going on outside of Zambiah since it has been set up. The mother turns to the boy and points at him.

“Kyle,” she starts, “have you given him his mandatory entrance item to welcome him into The Underground?”

So his name is Kyle, noted. 

“No mama,” he replies, “I will right away.”

Kyle turns and motions with his hand for me to follow him. I start to follow Kyle down another corridor in the cavern when I hear a surprised shout come from behind me. I reach for my knife again and whirl around to see what is attacking my new family. I am surprised to see Emma wrapping her arms around Lyre while the other members of the family gather around her while smiling. I stand there and watch as the other members start asking Lyre questions and she laughs then replies. 

“I love your eyes Lyre,” I hear Emma exclaim, “they are my favorite color!”

I watch Lyre smile and wrap her arms around Emma in return. I feel Kyle tap my shoulder, in an attempt to tell me that we need to continue moving, and I begrudgingly remove my eyes from the happy reunion in front of me to follow Kyle into more softly blue lit darkness.   
///  
We arrive at a small cave which is filled with boxes of objects. I walk in and awfully take in how many items are stored in this room. I glance from object to object and my eyes land on a small stuffed animal of a hippo. It’s a soft blue color with dark blue eyes and a white trip around its mouth and eyes. I pick up the hippo and turn it around in my hands. I hear Kyle shift behind me and I glance at him. He has a soft look in his eyes as he looks between the hippo and my face. 

“That is not the object I would guess, but it suits you,” he whispers softly.

I look at the hippo and smile. It brings back memories of the beach, and my love of all things blue.

“Can I keep him?” I murmur to Kyle.

I hear Kyle snicker and I see him nod in my peripheral vision. I hug my hippo close to chest and we stand there for a few moments enjoying the silence. I feel Kyle move closer to me and lightly touch my shoulder, signaling that we should get going.

I turn around and face Kyle. He shoots me a tiny smile then turns around and walks out of the cave. I look down at my hippo and then look up and run after him. We walk in silence back to the main cave corridor.

Our footsteps match and create a harmonizing rhythm. I focus on the floor as we continue making our way back towards Kyles family. I glance at Kyle in the corner of my eye and see him looking at the ground, his hand lazily dragging on the wall behind him. His movements seem like he is happy to be back to his home. I return my gaze to the ground and smile. I wonder what Pia is up to. We turn a corner and I am immediately pushed to the ground. I struggle to regain control of my body when I notice that the person on top of me is Emma.

“Que es tu objeto,” she exclaims on top of me.

I ruffle her hair and she looks up at me in excitement. I don’t know what she asked, but I hold up the hippo. She squeals in glee and reaches out to grab it. I pull my hand back, bringing the hippo further away from her and closer to me. I don’t want her to break it or take it from me, but I see her eyes fill with sadness and her lower lip starts to quiver. I groan and roll my eyes. 

“Okay fine,” I say, “but please don’t break it.” 

Emma immediately turns back to her excited and happy self as she slowly reaches out and takes the hippo. She holds it at an arm's length, studying it, then she hugs it close to her chest. I try to sit up, but she is still laying on my chest. She realizes that she is still on top of me and rapidly moves off of me. She stands up and I follow her. She continues hugging my hippo for a few seconds, then hands it back to me.

“Does it have a name?” She asks softly.

“Not yet,” I reply.

Her face suddenly turns serious and she closes her eyes. I watch as she contemplates things in her head and she chews on her bottom lip in concentration. I glance at Kyle and he shoots me a smile and shrugs his shoulders. I turn back to Emma and watch for a few seconds. Her eyes shoot open and I take a step back in shock. 

“Blue!” She exclaims, “her name should be blue!” 

I look at how excited and happy her face is and I can’t help but agree.

“Okay,” I say, “blue it is.” 

Emma turns and faces Kyle and she runs over and hugs him. Kyle takes a step back, stumbling over the added weight, then rights himself and hugs her back. I have never seen Kyle look so happy or at peace before. The two let go of one another and Emma turns and runs over to me.

“Let me show you your room!” She about shouts at me.

I blink then smile.

“Okay.” I respond.

Emma takes my hand and pulls me through different corridors. I have no idea how I will remember where this room is. We take a surprising amount of turns then Emma suddenly stops. I almost fall over with the amount of inertia that we had going. I righten myself and look at the door in front of us.

The door says Room 890. The door is wooden and it has a tiny metal door bell next to it. I look at Emma and see that she is looking at me expectantly. I gave the door and turn the knob. I open the door and step inside. I am overwhelmed by the coziness of the room before me. The walls are made of red stone, but there are indents holding some frostbite flowers to light up the room. There is a queen size bed backed up in the middle of the back wall with a white comforter and four gray pillows. Next to the bed there is a small bedside dresser with a lamp on top and a few small pieces of paper and a pen on top. 

I take a few steps inside and see a bathroom in the right wall with a sink, toilet, and a bathtub, all fully supplied, in a large indent in the room wall. The frostbites give the room a soft, comforting blue light that welcomes me into the room. I turn around and see Emma standing in the door frame, watching my face intently. I feel a tear slide down my cheek and Emma’s face switches from happiness to concern. She speeds over to me and hugs my legs again.

“What’s wrong Rin?” She asks, her voice muffled in my chest. 

I lower myself down and wrap my arms around her tiny frame. 

“Nothing Emma,” I murmur, “this room is perfect.” 

We hug each other for a few moments until Emma let’s go and backs up towards the entrance of the room.

“I will let you get settled in,” she says and give me a soft smile.

I return her smile and she raises her hand in a tiny wave then walks out of the room. I watch the spot where she stood for a moment with the biggest smile on my face. I turn around and take in the room. 

I walk over to the dresser and look at the papers. All of them are blank with lines on them. I suppose they are made for taking notes or making a schedule. I turn and put a hand on the bed. The bed leans down under the weight of my arm. Abruptly the cave starts to shake.

“What is going on?” I shout to myself over the sound of the rocks.

I lower myself to the ground and try to stabilize myself against the bed. I glance around the room as the dresser shakes and the neatly stacked papers fall onto the ground. I watch as the lamp starts tipping over on the edge of the dresser and I push off of the bed just as it falls towards the ground. I catch the lamp and set it calmly on the rumbling foor. 

I hear footsteps coming towards my door and I turn to face them. Kyle rushes into my room and pulls me close to him. 

“This is probably an earthquake,” he shouts in my ear , “follow me and stay calm”

I don’t know what an earthquake is, but I presume it is something bad.

“What do we do?” I ask.

“Let’s get out of here,” Kyle replies, “Follow me.”

Kyle lowers himself close to the ground and shimmies towards the doorway. We slowly crawl our way towards the cavern where Kyle’s family will be hiding out. By the time we make it to the cavern the cave is fully shaking and small rocks are falling from the roof. We give up going slow, the fear of getting knocked out by a rock driving us forward, and start sprinting towards the cavern.

Kyle grabs my hand and leads me through the maze of twists and turns. I struggle to keep up, his body being exceptionally more toned and fit than mine, but I continue to push my body it it’s limits. We turn corners and finally reach the main cavern. We reach the cavern just in time to see Kyle’s family huddling in the center of the cave, where the least amount of rocks are falling, and Emma catches my eye.

She is crouching by her mom while she looks up at the roof, her leg is trapped under a fallen rock that is about the length of my arm and as wide as a large pipe. Kyle tightens his grip on my hand and we sprint towards them. Kyles mom sees us and waves at us, motioning for us to hurry. We run as quickly as we can when the cave is instantly concealed in darkness. I stumble and look up to see a gigantic plane hovering over the top of the cavern. 

I see a window open and spot a small rifle pointing out at us. I try to warn the family but the sound of the rocks falling drowns my voice. The mother follows my line of sight and hurriedly grabs her husband and children and shove them towards the covered part of the cavern where they would be safe from the fire, but Emma stays put in the center as she tries to pry her leg free.

I sprint towards her in desperation and I feel Kyle also urging himself to go faster. Emma turns and looks at the plane then returns her focus to us. She smiles and closes her eyes with contentment. I will not let her get hurt. I push my legs to their limits, my chest aching for air, as I try to reach her.

I stagger as Kyle trips over a rock, and he falls behind me. I let go of his hand and continue running forward. I know the plane is here to shoot at me, and I can’t let Emma get hurt. I see the gun move in the corner of my eye and then a loud bang ricochets around the cavern. 

Even the sound of the falling rocks can’t cover the sound of Emma screaming in pain. I look at her as her leg is instantly covered in blood, the bullet in her leg lodged into her calf. I reach her just as the plane takes off, leaving me and Emma huddling in the circle. I hear her family rushing towards us from the side of the cavern.

I cradle Emma in my arms and her tears start to wet the sleeve of my sweatshirt, and she lets out a low whimper of pain. I look down at her and feel my own tears running down my cheeks. She looks up at me and smiles, she reaches a hand up to my face and wipes a few tears off my face, then lowers her hand.

“Te juro que no es el final,” she whispers, “Te amo.”

After those few words she closes her eyes and I feel her heart stop beating against my chest. I let out a strangled sob as I hug her close to my chest. I hear the rest of her family let out loud cries and sobs behind me. My chest aches for them and for Emma. I release a quiet growl deep in my throat and throw my head back towards the sky. I will make the domes pay for what they have done. Even if it kills me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired song(s):  
Lost- Tinlicker  
Cómo Mirarte- Sebastián Yatra
> 
> Translations: (plz let me know if there are any mistakes!)
> 
> Tú son mi hermano ahora- you are my brother now 
> 
> “Él no comprender tύ Emma,” “Él no habla Española.”- he does not understand Emma, he doesn’t speak Spanish.
> 
> “Por qué no?” - why not 
> 
> “Él es muy nuevo aquí, Él será comprender más tarde.”- he is very new here, he will understand later. 
> 
> “Si.” - yes 
> 
> “Te juro que no es el final,” “Te amo.”- this is not the end, I love you.


	6. Life After Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens after Emma’s death. Secrets are shared as well as grief and pain.

It has been about 4 months since Emma’s death. Her family members are still mourning her loss and the community of the Underground has been completely empathetic towards them. I have been trying to help the family out as much as I can in these few weeks as they try and adjust to life without a family member. I asked Eiuthea, the son of the leader of the Underground, for any more job I could handle to receive an income for Kyle and his family while they mourn their loss. Eiuthea assigned me the job of a guard in training, since all the other jobs require years of education and experience, and I have been training for hours a day for the past three months doing obstacle courses and hand to hand combat exercises with a commander named Lorak. Apparently he has won many battles even though only being twenty five years old. 

“Rin, what are you doing?” I hear commander Lorak shout.

I raise my head and look at the other trainee in front of me. I must have spaced out again. I tighten my grip on my spear and parry my opponents attack. He raises his spear again and I roll to the side while landing in a crouch on my toes. My opponent continues charging me with flurry attacks and I continue dodging them by rolling and using my spear to defend. After we continue this for a minute I finally see my opponent leave his side open to an attack. I lunge at him and knock him to the ground, leaving him defenseless and declaring me the winner. I pant on top of him until the commander blows his whistle, signifying the end of the match. I push myself up onto my feet and reach a hand to help my opponent up. He looks up at me, glares, and reaches up and swats my hand away. He gets up on his feet and immediately starts to walk towards the locker room and away from me and commander.

“Don’t worry about Bordak,” I hear Commander Lorak start behind me, “he has been training for months to be in the guard and hates to lose.”

I glance at the locker room door then turn to face Commander Lorak. I look up at the commander to see his face of approval. 

He is a good foot taller than me and, while my hair has been getting longer since I’ve escaped the domes, his brown hair is in a long ponytail pulled at the base of his neck. A scar runs straight over his left jaw and down under his chin. His skin is spotted with freckles from being in the sun that brightens up his tan skin. I want to look as cool as him someday. 

“Okay Commander Lorak,” I state and salute him as trained, “thank you for letting me train for the guard.”

Commander Lorak returns my salute and shoots me a small grin. 

“You have been training routinely and you are quite a natural Rin,” he comments, “at this rate you will be able to test for the guard in a weeks time.”

I stand taller at his observation and I feel myself returning his smile. 

“Thank you commander sir.”

Commander Lorak lowers his salute and waves towards the locker room. 

“Now go get changed out and visit your living quartered family.”

I lower my salute and nod. I start walking towards the locker room and halfway there I glance back to look at the commander. 

He is watching me with his arms crossed and a miniature smile on his face. I turn and walk backwards while lifting my hand in a small wave. He returns it and I turn around and walk into the locker room. 

I barely close the door before I am shoved against the wall. I let out a grunt and lift my head up to see who pushed me. Oh, Borak. 

“You little piece of crap,” he whisper shouts in my face, “I am going to make you pay for that.” 

His breath reeks of missing his dental hygiene regiment and his face is bright red with anger and his fingers dig into my shoulders as he continues to force me back against the locker room wall. My mind travels back to a conversation I had with Lyre a few months ago, before I started training. 

Lyre was worried I would pick a fight with every soldier in my rage, while also grieving Emma, to fight the domes and pulled me aside. 

“If you are going to fight someone,” she started, “please be calm and don’t make any enemies with any of the other trainees.” 

I looked into her eyes and saw the grief and pleds in her voice made me agree without complaint. She looked completely defeated and I guess she didn’t want to lose another important person in her life. 

“Hey Bordak,” I speak with no bite or anger in my voice, “please let me go.” 

He laughs and I feel my shoulders start to ache from his fingers digging harder. I look into his black eyes which are void of any happiness or kindness as he spits at my feet and make his disgusting yellow saliva travel down my leg and into my boot. That was the last straw. I glare at him and shove him backwards off of me. He stumbles back a step and then quickly regains his footing. Bordak’s face darkens with rage and he lunges towards me. I block his body with my arm and roll to the side. His arms swing in a flurry of wrath as he tries to knock me down and land a punch on me. I sidestep each of his attacks and feel my back press against the door to exit the locker room. I see Bordaks legs tense as he prepares to lunge at me from across the room. I move my hand up to the doorknob, unlock the door, and move it open an inch. Bordak lunges at me with the pure rage of a charging rhinoceros. I feel myself shoot him a tiny smirk as I sidestep to the side of the door just as he reaches me. I move behind him and shove him out the door. He lets out a very unmanly shriek as he lands on the concrete outside. I can’t help but laugh as he lifts his head and glares at me from the ground. I lean against the door as he starts to stand up and I watch as he wipes his shirt and pants free of dirt. 

“Thank you for the fun training session,” I say loudly enough for the other instructors to hear, “you really helped me practice my dodging and awareness skills.”

Bordak glares at me and his mouth morphs into a snarl.

“No problem,” he growls out while trying to act civil.

I watch as Bordak tries to smile at the commanders around us. The commanders around us all nod respectfully and Commander Lorak shoots me a knowing thumbs up combined with a small smirk. I return his smirk and wave at the crowd gathering around.

“As much fun as that was,” I holler, “I have to meet my sister and the Almerez family, as you do.”

The commanders all nod and Commander Lorak lifts his hand in a tiny wave. Bordak turns to face me and I watch as his eyes turn murderous once the commanders are out of his sight. I wink at him and then turn back into the locker room to change. I close the door behind me and then swiftly walk over to my locker to change before Bordak can come back in and annoy me again. I quickly change and grab my backpack containing Blue, a water bottle, my knife, my wallet with my earnings of training for the guard, and my keycard for my room. I check to make sure everything is there, then I shoulder the pack. I walk to the door to exit the locker room and I hear a quiet argument outside. I stop and put my ear against the door to try and hear what people were saying.

“You should have never attacked him when he was defenseless,” I hear a person bellows, “you could have hurt him as an upper level trainee.” 

I recognize Commander Loraks voice and press my whole head against the door to hear more.

“I just wanted to put him in his place Sir,” I hear Bordak retort, “he’s below me yet he thinks he can push me around.”

“Maybe if you trained harder and worked on your technique, he wouldn’t be able to beat you,” I hear Lorak snap.

I hear Lorak take a deep breath and release it a few seconds later. 

“Just,” he says calmly, “leave Rin alone.” 

I don’t hear any response from Bordak so I guess he nodded. I hear the two of them separate and I hear Bordaks footsteps getting closer to the locker room door. I hurry back to my locker and act as if I just finished changing once Bordak walks through the door. His face is dark with hatred as he marches over to his locker. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Bordak grabs his backpack and shoves his belongings inside it. I start to leave the locker room when I hear Bordak slam his locker door. 

“Hey,” he huffs suddenly.

I turn and face him as he walks closer to me. He towers over me and sticks his finger in my chest.

“I will train to beat you one day,” he says, “so watch your back.”

Bordak shoves past me and slams the door behind him. I stare at where he one stood then shrug my shoulders. I will continue training to beat Bordak and never lose to him. That’s a promise. I grab my pack and walk out of the locker room and take a fifteen minute walk back to the Almerez family cave.   
///

When I arrive at the cave I see Luna, Hugo, and Ash working in a smaller cave on the side of the entryway. They seem to be working on some type of technology. Ash is a technician in the Underground, and is assigned to help create more technological advancements to try and defeat the domes. I watch as the three of them try to combine wires and other stuff to make something. Ash and Luna have been diving into their work for the past two months, and their hard work can be seen throughout the underground in all of the new improving technology that is being tested out. I’m not very big on technology, it’s never been my strong suit.  
I walk past their cave to continue making my way to my room. I pass by Lyre’s room and I see that she is talking to Kax. They look like they are having a deep discussion about something. The father and Lyre have been taking more often since Emma passed, I suppose it’s because they are both trying to deal with the loss and are both leaning onto one another for emotional support. I try to make out what they are saying, but their voices are too soft for me to understand their words. I glance at them once, then continue to my room. I walk down the hallways lost in thought. I wonder why Commander Lorak is so protective of me and I wonder how I’m excelling so quickly at guard training. I wasn’t much of a hard worker physically wise back in the domes. I guess my body is adjusting after working out for hours for months.

I reach my room and notice that my door is cracked open. I remember closing it on my way to training this morning, even in the domes, like every morning. I reach in my pack and pull of my knife in front of me. I crack the door open a tiny bit further with my foot and slowly make my way into the room. I glance around the room, but everything seems in place. I slowly put my backpack on the ground to the side of the door and creep cautiously around the room. I look at my dresser and bedside table but nothing seems missing or new. My bed is made with not a pillow out of place. 

I turn to go and check my bathroom when I hear a rustling sound behind me. I whip around with my knife at ready to attack my unseen intruder. I look up to see my blade centimeters from Kyles, very frightened, face. I lower my knife and throw my hands up in exasperation. 

“Kyle,” I groan, “why are you sneaking up on me?” 

Kyle laughs loudly in my confusion and then points to his backpack. I didn’t notice before, but he is wearing a training uniform and I see that his lower arms are wrapped in ape.tape up to his elbows. He follows my eyes to his hands and smiles sheepishly at me.

“I know you just finished training,” he starts, “but I was wondering if you could help me train in hand to hand combat, I know I’m not training for the guard but I heard it's a great stress reliever.” 

Kyle rubs the back of his head with his left hand and looks at the ground.

“I understand if you don’t want to,” he starts to ramble, “I mean you just…” 

I cut him off by grabbing my backpack and touching his arm. 

“It’s okay Kyle,” I smile, “I would love to train with you.” 

Kyle smiles at me and we start making our way to the Almerez’s training cave.

The training cave is smaller than the guard training cave, for obvious reasons, but the Underground assigns every family a training cave for comfort and self healing.

As we walk to the cave I glance at Kyle walking beside me. 

After Emma, he didn’t speak for a full month. He flung himself in teaching himself hand to hand combat and the art of being stealthy. His usual studies of the Domes were stopped as he took the time to regain his strength and a better mental state. He withdrew himself as he mourned, which is understandable, but it was very worrisome for everyone around him. He has been closed off from his family and has only recently started talking to us again a few weeks ago. About two months ago, Ash tried talking to him but he got outraged by her attempt and became even more withdrawn afterward. No one tried to contact him after that. Even though my body is drained of energy and aching from the new bruises I got from Bordak, I will take any chance to talk with, or even be near, Kyle after the months of no contact. 

We reach the training cave and enter the space. The cave is about the length of two school busses and the width of five busses. It isn’t super big but it's definitely big enough for at least ten people to train comfortably.

Me and Kyle set down out bags at Kyle starts to stretch as I wrap my hands. After Kyle stretches for a minute he stands up while I stretch. We both make our way towards the middle of the room and face each other. 

I take a defensive position while Kyle takes an offensive. I watch as he scans my body quickly for any openings then attacks. He swings with his left hand at my side, which I block, and at the same time kicks his right leg up to try and counter my other side. I move my other hand to block his foot and I kick my foot out at his lone left foot to try and knock him off balance. He hops backwards and lands on both his feet, crouching, a few feet from me. I surge forward to give him not even a second of relaxation or time to regain his composure. I throw a right handed punch at his face, but he dodges underneath. He lifts his left hand and punches me in the check. I fly backwards and land on my back with the wind knocked out of me. I fling my legs back at my face and do a kip-up to get back onto my feet. I take a deep breath and run straight at Kyle. I watch as he plants his feet and prepares to punch me again, but at the last second I use both my feet to leap into the air and dodge Kyles punch. I fly overtop of him and then I flip in the air and kick him in the back. Kyle grunts and falls forward onto his stomach. I land behind him with my feet spread apart and bent downward. I put my right hand on the ground to stabilize myself and I look up from the ground at Kyle. I see him smirking as he lifts his head up and looks behind him at me. 

“Good move Rin,” He calls out to me, his breath must be knocked out of him because he is sounding airy.

I grin at him and stand up. I walk over to Kyle and hold my hand out for him to take so he can stand up. I watch as Kyle contemplates on taking my hand or not. After a few seconds he takes my hand. I start to pull him up, but Kyle yanks me down instead. I let out a small yelp as my back hits the ground and Kyle rolls on top of me. Out faces are inches apart and he smiles. 

“I win,” He breathes heavily.

I try to flip him off of me with not luck. I relax behind him and grin. I look up at him and notice his face is a deep scarlet. I guess he is not used to training a lot if he gets so red-faced this quickly. 

“That was a cheap trick,” I retort, “But I will win next time.”

Kyle laughs and his stomach shakes on top of mine. I feel myself laughing too and after a few moments Kyle gets off of me and rolls to the side. We both lay next to each other laughing for a few moments and I look over at Kyle. His hands are gripping his sides as he releases a very boisterous laugh. His eyes are tight in happiness with a tear of joy running down the side of his face. I want to make everyone look just as happy as Kyle does right now. I wait for Kyle to calm down and then I shift up onto my legs into a crouch. Kyle does the same and we both stand up. 

“Thanks for training with me Rin,” Kyle laughs breathlessly, “I really appreciate it.”

I smile and shoot him my trademark finger guns.

“Not a problem Kyle,” I exclaim, “Thank you for offering to train with me.”

“Anytime,” he replies.

Me and Kyle grab out backpacks and make our way towards the family showers. 

We walk side by side to the showers. Kyle playfully pushes his shoulder into mine and we battle to be in the middle of the hallway all the way to the showers. We both laugh and fight to be the first ones in the showers when Hugo walks past us.

“Kyle,” He groans, “stop flirting with Rin!”

Kyle stops and I turn to face him. His face is completely red and he starts to stutter as he shoves Hugo away.

“Hugo,” Kyle exclaims three octaves above his normal tone, “go away!”

Hugo starts to giggle as Kyle pushes him around the corner and out of sight, his laughs can still be heard throughout the hallway. 

“Um,” Kyle starts, he hides his face in his hands and groans.

I look at him confused about why Kyle is acting weird. I don’t even know what flirting is. Kyle takes a deep breath and then pulls back his shoulders and looks me in the eyes.

“I am gay,” Kyle states.

“What is gay?” I ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired Songs: 911- Ellise, Emotional- Flux Pavilion, Electricity- Silk City & Dua Lipa, How Far We’ve Come- Matchbox Twenty, Forty-Five Part 2- Das.


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